2024 North Texas Annual Conference: Tuesday's Afternoon Session

so let me introduce to you our young person at the table for this session of the annual conference and this Miss Vivan Jackson uh yeah yes she is um Vivien attends Bishop Lynch High School and as a member of the conference leadership program and also a member of Hamilton Park United Methodist Church church and so so just so we can experience some youth power this afternoon cuz we we're going to kick it in we're in the fourth quarter now and so we're we're heading down towards the end end of our of our annual conference uh Vivian would you pray for us as we start our session dear heavenly father I stand before you humble and grateful to you for allowing us to gather here today I am thankful for the time I've spent the last few days with the other youth thank you for giving us the opportunity to connect with each other and plan ways for our conference to keep our young people and others engaged I ask that you help us stay focused on you and stay kind open-minded understanding and forgiving of others I know that there is more business to discuss this afternoon and I ask you to guide the youth and more as they come before us please bless others who also present important initiatives and information for our consideration and make us receptive to their messages thank you for hearing our prayers and guiding us through our good times and difficult times thank you for watching over us protecting us and helping us and your light shine through all that we do in your name we pray amen amen thank you Vivian all right um this Mo this morning um Dr car uh Carla cardosa was here but she didn't quite make her way up to the front so we're going to begin with uh her welcoming this afternoon so Dr cardosa are you here oh she's coming now she's coming all right she's a director for Lega Patterson Institute a South Central jurisdiction um agent school that is doing amazing work in the VES El Paso area Dr cardosa welcome thank you thank you Bishop good afternoon everybody earlier today I tried to run as fast as I could but I didn't make it uh I'm delighted to be here to present um the report from Lydia Patterson Institute uh but um I know that you just had lunch and I'm you know I'm gambling with this but before I start I want you to please close your eyes don't fall asleep please fall asleep yes please don't fall asleep so now Envision a city fraud with danger at every turn yet am miss the chaos stands Fernando a 14-year-old boy devoted and the determined to beat the odds imagine Fernando getting up at 4: in the morning every day navigating for hours the dangerous streets day after day driven by his thirst for knowledge growth and better life now visualize a school that is a sanctuary amid the turmoil where Fernando finds support purpose and most importantly Faith this place is where Fernando flourishes and learns to manage challenges with firm determination now open your eyes don't fall asleep please carry Fernando's story with you and know the Fernando's case trenden is that of an exception there are many fernandos at LPI kids with a strong ethic resilience kindness and a desire to Prevail this is a testament to the power of Grace Faith determination and generosity at Lydia Patterson Institute this my dear friends is a significant of supporters contributions to LPI Ministry LPI is dedicated to offering academic and faith-based education to underserve and underprivileged students and we all know education is a great equalizer the past year we have enriched our curriculum Foster valuable techniques for our teachers and prepare students for language acquisition which is very hard at times in College and Career Readiness last week we cele celebrated the graduation for the class of 2024 and uh we graduated 64 seniors which 100% of those graduates graduated on time and we're very proud of that 98% applied and were admitted to college so we're very very happy about that too with the support of the general Board of higher education and Ministry we offer seven scholarships full scholarships to graduating seniors um for to pursue higher education at Methodist universities for decades our teachers only earned 45% of what public school teachers in Texas make this year we were able to raise their salaries by an additional by an additional 15% ignoring the Gap and recognizing their efforts we also have ensured safety is our priority this year we have been working on maintenance and security protocols to create a safe learning environment in our school and having an 111 year old um U building it's it's challenging at times in addition our commit commitment to honesty and money management remains strong we continue to implement robust Financial controls and recognize our financial processes despite our great achievements LPI is encountering financial adversities like every nonprofit due to many uh challenges but the generosity of supporters like you is crucial in helping us navigate the financial hurdles even a modest you know visit to our um institution will be a meaningful uh impact on to our work so thank you for your time and attention to our supporting Lydia Patterson and we want to tell you that without your help we will not be able to do what we do thank you very much thank you at this time at this time we have huh we do we have the video no okay all right at this time we're going to commission a Deaconess um Caitlyn France would you please come up here Caitlyn so I'm going to ask you some questions right and then we're going to pray for you and we're going to commission you to the work of deaconness by the way where is your location for Ministry I am a chaplain at Children's Medical Center Dall okay okay she's a chaplain here at Children's Medical Center in Dallas so um Caitlyn uh we Rejoice that you have responded to God's call to servant in ministry as a Deaconess of the United Methodist Church in your ministry you you continue a tradition of service that is as vital today as it was in 1888 when the office of deaconness was first authorized in the United Methodist tradition the call of God is always profound and our response can be no less than extraordinary in the varied ministries of Love Justice and service to which the holy spirit is leading you you will testify to the infinite love of God in Jesus Christ such a life time vocation confers a great privilege and also lays upon you a solemn responsibility in your consecration you publicly declared your commitment to engage in the lifelong work of Love Justice and service and to assume its responsibilities led by the spirit of God to be diligent in prayer in the reading of the Holy scriptures in mutual relationship with the communities you serve and in all other means of Grace available to you to earnestly seek to carry out forward your ministry call in sincerity and love under the direction of the church to accept responsibility for participation in the mutually supportive deaconness and home missioner Covenant Community and for a lifetime of loving and supporting your diagonal siblings as part of the world diaconate do you now affirm these commitments publicly in the presence of this assembly I do so publicly affirm the Declarations with God being my helper today we send you forth with our blessings and support so I'm going to ask you to kneel here um are there other Representatives who would like to come and just pray for Caitlyn at this time you're not alone all right let us pray most gracious God source of all mercies anoint your servant with your Holy Spirit enrich them with your grace and strengthen her for the task which lie ahead May Caitlyn's labors glorify your holy name as she continues her daily work in ministries of Love Justice and service on behalf of the United Methodist Church through your son Jesus Christ we pray amen amen you please stand would you affirm and celebrate the ministry of pin fr [Applause] all right the next item on the agenda is the clergy spouses report by Alysa wac and friends I'll let them make their way up here good afternoon my name is Alysa wck and I am this year's chairperson for the clergy spouses or as we like to call ourselves the clergy spice for those of you who don't know me I am the proud spouse of the Reverend Dr Marcus wck we're very proud it's an honor to stand before you today and give a brief update um I'm also honored that I once again get to follow my father-in-law Larry his report um from the Council on finance and administration was this morning and he and I both know that I get to give the more entertaining report of the day thanks [Music] Larry this past year has been filled with challenges uncertainty and grief I know you all feel that um for those of you who are newly ordained and commissioned a few of whom I know personally um I can't help but wonder what were you thinking and I think your partners were probably wondering that too right um but I'm excited to welcome both you and our your spouses to this conference the church needs you this conference needs you and as our youth minister at Plymouth Park always says we are more complete because you are here as clergy spouses like all of you we have had many conversations about what the future holds for the United Methodist Church and we are very excited to welcome new faces As We join with two other conferences to become the Horizon Texas conference as we merge and our Circle grows I have an ask of you um I would ask that you encourage your fellow clergy from the other conferences um to join us in our clergy spouse group um we have learned that they currently don't have active clergy spouse groups so we are excited to welcome them into our fold um if you've never been with us before I'd also love to extend a personal invitation for you to join us our group is a safe place for questions advice or just venting to each other and it does happen um there will no doubt be more challenges more uncertainty and quite possibly more grief but there will be hope too and what a gift that is uh it has become somewhat of an expectation over the last decade that the clergy spice offer a video as part of our report and I'm happy to say that this year is no different for the Millennials and younger um you'll recognize this as a take on a recent Tick Tock trend and for those of you whose only Tik Tok is your analog watch wow you can think of this as a modern day take on you might be a redneck if so I want to give a big thank you to Nikki berett for putting this together for us and without further Ado roll that beautiful clergy spiced [Music] footage I'm a clergy spouse so of course I can't get my spouse to retire he just keeps serving churches I'm a clergy spouse of course I want you to tell me why you weren't here last Sunday I'm a clergy spouse of course I don't mind being the subject of your sermon why yes clergy spouse and of course I'm going to look at you blankly when you ask specifics about the sermon I didn't go to Seminary I'm a clergy spouse of course I'm not a woman I'm the CLG SP of course I love to wake up early every Sunday and Tay's boys to different churches yeah Church do we have to go I'm a clergy spouse of course I'll run the screens and sound for worship today I'm a clergy spouse of course I want to hear all the details about your gallbladder surgery I'm a clergy spouse of course I'll fill 500 tiny communion cups I'm clergy spouse of course I know how to make coffee of course I know where the coffee and the filters are and of course I know where to find all the sugar and the creamer and the Splenda and all that of course I'm a clergy spouse of course I'll pick up communion bread and grape juice on my way to church I'm a clergy spouse of course I'll teach a Bible study lesson last minute because you know I know exactly what the pastor knows I'm a Wesley clergy spouse of course I've been to every Church within a 20m radius of the University of North Texas which Speaking of if you want to donate to the uh Denton Wesley Foundation go to www. of course I'm a clergy spouse I can do everything with a smile on my face and keep my kid under control during worship I'm a clergy spouse of course I'll hop up and help with communion if you give me the signal I'm a clergy spouse of course I'm volun told for everything I'm a clergy spouse of course I don't remember your name you can't say that I'm going to get in trouble oh shoot you're right yeah yeah let's do another one I'm a clergy spouse of course I also do AV I'm a clergy spouse of course I'd love to hear all of your feedback on all things Church related and pass them along to the senior Pastor great service today hun I just have a couple of notes um okay so first people are not loving the new little Himel maybe if we could go back to the big Himel all the songs that'd be great uh number two maybe not talk about the Bible quite so much we need a little bit more pop culture things that we can relate to uh number three we're going to need less pop culture references and more Bible okay okay I'm a clergy spouse of course I don't cuss hey honey the bishop just called me oh [Applause] wow that was amazing that's not ready for prime time TV right there so that's what you meant when you called Maya she's a clergy spice I thought like you mispronounce it as clergy spouse but I get it now all right uh chair recognizes and this group is going to be really subdued and laidback so just uh the young people's address right by the conference youth leaders and a lot of others come on [Applause] good afternoon esteemed members of the north Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church my name is aubt Hillary and I'm Addie Hume today we stand before you representing the voices of the young young people in our churches our communities and our conference we are grateful for this opportunity to speak to you about some vital points that deeply impact us and our peers first and foremost we want to emphasize the importance of truly listening to the voices of young people in the church it is essential that our thoughts ideas and concerns are not only heard but also valued when decisions are made about youth programs policies and our involvement it is crucial that we are included in those discussions remember don't make decisions about us without us adding on to this we want all youth to know that they have a voice in our conference pastors we call upon you to actively talk about opportunities for youth in our churches our conference and our communities from the pulpit your words inp ire and guide us and when you highlight the possibilities for youth engagement it encourages both us and our families to get involved next we are excited to discuss the significance of positions like the conference youth leadership program CP and why they must continue as we move into the future of the Horizon Texas conference CP has had a profound impact on all of us it has provided a place for youth to have a voice in various settings and allowed us to build meaningful relationships and has helped us grow into our faith this program empowers young people to be confident in who God has created them to be this program is more of a Ministry that feels like home for all of us a space where we can truly be ourselves CP offers a space of diversity and inclusion bringing together young people of all backgrounds from both big and small churches it gives us a chance not just to be kids but to share our voices and opinions equally this program provides opportunities to gain and practice leadership skills and fosters connections that are invaluable skills and connections that we as young people will carry with us throughout our lives as we pursue further education careers and grow as members of this United Methodist Church as young people looking to the future of the United Methodist Church we are hopeful about the removal of discriminatory language in our book of discipline embracing diversity is not just about policies though it is about actively welcoming all people into our churches just like our Cenote speaker said yesterday our Church's history shows that variety and opinions and experience streng strengthen us the Bible teaches us to love our neighbor and to come together despite our differences God's love knows no boundaries and neither should ours [Applause] for example vistaridge UMC shares their campus with a Nigerian church both communities occasionally come together to share in worship and fellowship many churches have disability Ministries that make worship accessible to all one of those Ministries is Gateway at mckin UMC where they host an activity and dinner once a month another one of those Ministries is deaf Fellowship worship at lovers Lang UMC one of the very few de focused worship services in the country live streamed all over the world we also experience diversity in our conference thanks to the work of the nine reconciling Ministries in our conference and the Wesley centers that are present on college campuses these Ministries are just a few examples of the ways that we can actively Embrace and celebrate diversity in our congregations we believe that increasing diversity within our church must begin with our children by fostering an environment of inclusion from a young age we can grow into a more diverse and accepting Community it is through education awareness and celebration of all differences that we can cultivate an environment where everyone feels welcome we encourage pastors children's ministers and children's volunteers to be intentional about including diverse voices in leadership curriculum and literature for the youngest people in our churches to foster a more diverse Community we hope that our churches can continue to reflect diversity of the family of God as our youngest members grow in their faith in conclusion we the youth at the North Texas conference are eager to contribute to a church that listens to us involves Us in decision making and fosters diversity from the ground up by continuing programs like CP and being bold in our inclusivity efforts we can create a church where everyone feels welcome and heard thank you for listening to us today together let's build a future where every young person can confidently say they belong and are valued in our United Methodist Church [Applause] thank you for that report and for and for that that word of encouragement as we pursue a diverse world that the church that reflects the community around us thank you so much for your witness chair recogn izes the back to school initiative Reverend Dr Owen Ross good afternoon friends I am not Reverend Dr Owen Ross but rather Danielle buan Kim associate director of research and development thank you and I'm with the uh back to school uh task force and um as you all may know this year I have had the privilege of serving and coming alongside so many congregations in our connection and I was once again deeply inspired by our vibrant witness we bear to each of our unique and diverse Mission fields and one common thread that I keep hearing regardless of congregation size Church settings is our shared commitment and passion to serve and work with young people young people matter to us and indeed friends young people are important to God God is willing to work through even our smallest acts of faith even as small as offering a cup of cold water as the Bible says to these young people and God Bears much fruit through our what I call Mustard Seed sized Act of fath Faith y'all hear me when we say yes to God's invitation to serve them so um I am a personally a recipient of this gift of someone who said yes to God's call God's invitation to serve me as a child as some of you uh may know I was born in South Korea and immigrated to the states uh in Middle School my mom went through a terrible divorce after years of domestic violence and she came to the states when I was about seven and I was left behind in carea to be raised by my maternal grandparents back then there was no internet do youall remember the days that we didn't have any internet any witness here um and no Skype um and international phone calls were very expensive so I really didn't have my mom's presence during those um childhood years but what I had what I did have was the church it was a local there was a local church in small rural South Korean town I grew up um and in this church there was this faithful member by the name of jesuk Park in Korean pronunciation pakes she wasn't a pastor she was certainly not a youth pastor but a faithful middle-aged lay person Christian and she took notice of of me of this odd girl who comes to the church every day um by herself my mom was the first one in the family to be a Christian and after she left to the states there was no one to take me to the church and so I went to the church by myself and every time I went to the church she would wait at the front door um waiting for me waiting to give me this biggest their hug ever never should never fail to make me feel help me feel belong and she knew that my family struggled I grew up in poverty um she would give me some money for school supplies or for my birthday um and so um you know in Korean culture uh you don't just give uh cash to people you've got to stuff it in really pretty envelope right um and so what was available around um were offering envelopes so she would uh write prayers for me encouraging notes and in fact um I brought one with me uh today and that's her handwriting and if I were to translate um it goes like this my daughter I pray this new year will be a year of much blessing I pray that you continue to glorify the Lord by being your beautiful self can you imagine what this did for me as a little child and for my self-esteem as I was was struggling through navigating through some of the difficult challenges of My Life as a child friends jesuk Park probably doesn't know the impact over prayers had on my life and according to statistics I'm more likely to engage in Risky behaviors coming from violent home and more likely to end up in a violent marriage myself but the investment from my church in Korea the investment from jesuk Park changed the course of My Life as a atrisk child so friends I want to ask all of us how many children in our mission Fields need a he jesuk Park in their lives how many jesuk parks do we have in our congregations who are invested to serve children what would our church our schools our communities look like and look differently if every child in our mission Fields had their own jesuk Park friends um I immigrate to the states um since I've immigrated to the states um I've never stayed in one place more than three years and I've lived here half more than half of my life this experience of dis displacement is still part of my immigrant life but what remains constant to me whether I'm in Korea or here in Texas whether I am a child or an adult is the church and the love of God that I get to experience through the church the people of God and friends we have so many people coming through our doors or maybe hanging around the threshold of our doors like uh Michael Ginger was um sharing with us yesterday displaced and traumatized whether they're immigrants or not friends I firmly believe that God's favorite way of working is through God's people and that is the church and that is you and me God is ready to work through our prayers God is ready to work through our yes and God is ready to work through the smallest acts of faith like mus our seeds and bear much fruit through us so friends our mission is possible not because it is easy or not because uh we're capable enough to accomplish those all the time but because God is capable because God is faithful and because God is working through our Act of Faith as little as mustard seeds so so your mission should you choose to accept it I I I better hear an amen at this point already thank you is to Simply engage in a rhythm of Prayer For Those whom we are called to serve those who whom we're called to entrusted to love and God will bear much fruit through us God will bear much fruit through our prayers and God will work through our Act of Faith and God will surely work through our yeses hallelujah hallelujah [Applause] amen good afternoon friends my name is John McClary and that's a powerful powerful witness but I have to admit that when Owen asked me to be a part of a new conference initiative on back to school my first response was a new back to school initiative Owen don't you know that most of our churches already have back to school initiatives what we know that we do in fact would you raise your hand if your church does something important at back to school see I thought so my church does too you asked me to be a part of this the impact of a prayer partner on the life of the child cannot be underestimated in my own life as a church brat preachers kid I was blessed to have some incredible adult friends who were not my parents who intentionally uh shared their faith in a way that uh I could I could be formed and my own kids have been blessed and benefited from relationships with adult church members who have helped them claim their faith away from their pastors Pastor dad's Shadow so I'm here to tell you that what we're presenting to you today is not just another conference initiative this is not the next new thing that we all have to put on our plates and on our church calendars we're here to talk about a way to leverage what your churches are already doing that's right so so that we can level up in our back to school Outreach from evangelism and an Outreach to relationship building and discipleship some good people across our newly forming unified conference are compiling some resources that will help us learn from each other and build on the foundations uh that you have already created with your back to school Ministries we're looking at ways that we can take the next steps after our backpack blessing and our bag tags and our campus prayer walks and our school supply drives and our breakfast for the teachers how amazing would it be for all of our churches to have trained prayer Partners ready to Mentor students and help them know and grow in their relationship with Jesus and we're not just talking about the kids who are already in our churches friends we're talking about the kids who attend schools in our communities who do not attend a church we're talking about the kids who attend our day schools but don't attend church we're talking about kids who show up to our VBS and to our summer Ministries and then hop around to every other Church's VBS what if these kids had a person in their life who they knew was praying for them and was available to them as a mentor some of you are already intentionally doing this and if you are we think other churches want to hear about it this is a collaborative effort in which we are going to benefit from our Collective wisdom here small churches and large churches Urban churches and Suburban churches and Town and Country churches and some conference staff who can help kind of bring this all together there's a table out in the vendor area where you can actually say and and share what is working in your community and that's going to be part of our conference resource package package there'll be an open Zoom call on the evening of June the 18th for folks who want to come together and learn from each other and start developing some of these training materials that you can use in your churches to inspire the next jesuk parks in your mission Fields there's information in a QR code on the screen to register for that friends we all know how Jesus welcomed the children and sharing Jesus with love with young people in our communities is not new to us we know how to do this but there are always new things we can learn this initiative actually touches on all five aspects of our conference strategic priorities and it represents an opportunity for all of us to take the next steps thank you John oh and I'm g p pile on uh when you call me I'm like I already have enough on the agenda but as I reflected I realized last year at our church at St Luke first of all I'm Richie Butler senior pastor of St Luke Community UMC um I realized that our theme was Next Level time as I thought about the fact that we do we have nine schools that we call Our Hope schools and we try to touch them in some shape form or fashion and as we prepare for our back to school initiative I was thinking God put in my spirit and I realized as we've talked about next level what does that next level look like and Owen's requests hit me like a ton of bricks the power of prayer the power of us not just showing up with a backpack not showing up as been indicated with coffee and meals for teachers but to be in Partnership and relationship through the power of Prayer and so I realize that this is a Next Level move and moment on the part of God for us the United Methodist Church here in North Texas and so at St Luke what we did last year we every time I say it's next level time the congre the when I ask the question what time is it the congregation would respond it's next level time and so I want you to know this prayer initiative is now Next Level time so what time is it next level time what time is it next level time it is time for us to pray because the people of God if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray for our children seek my face turn from their ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land this is next level time join us as we move to the next level in prayer God bless you thank you Reverend Danielle Kim for as many people in scriptures are not known by name and uh this saint huk Park her name is now known by 800 people whose lives she has touched today by her witness and through through the witness in the story of Reverend Danielle Kim so thank you for that and are called to take the next level and be a Praying conference I think that's going to that's going to get us to the next level make our mission possible and thank you by the way for all that you're already doing to prepare for back to school and to bless the children and the families and the teachers and and just the school district with a presence let them know that there's a church in the neighborhood that cares for them so thank you for that let's take it up to the Next Level the chair recognizes um award presentations Owen and Kim Dr Owen Ross and Kim I got so carried away by the previous presentation that uh I was off ready to take it to the next level but we have some awards to present by people who did take it to the next Next Level this past year and this information is found on pages 17 through 20 in your journal and we're going to start with the den uh clergy award and uh to give the background umus Road United Methodist Church a historically Filipino congregation in Pleasant Grove uh in the Metro District they I I already said we experienced a 6% total average increase in in-person worship attendance uh umer Road experienced a 63% increase in in-person worship attendance they also experienced a 500% increase in professions of faith of going from two in 2022 to 10 in 2023 when I called to find out so I look at the numbers every year and I say and so I called to find out what is happening what can we learn here and here's what I learned we have many Filipino nurses and teachers that are immigrating to Dallas Texas so the people of umph Road United Methodist Church have gotten involved in the Filipino teachers and Nurses Association and are helping these teachers and nurses who are immigrating to the Dallas area and many of those are are finding a home at umph Road United Methodist Church nine of their adult professions of Faith were from these connections their worship attendance also came from their Pastor visiting people in their homes so they experienced growth in not just numbers but in discipleship Ley living out their Christian faith and Christian education serving as a volunteer administrators music ministers choir conducting pianists and in other areas including volunteer Landscaping of the Church umer Road is a small church but they are doing big things Ken Park was first appointed to umer Road in 2020 and has led umer Road through the pandemic through displacement from their Church due to the winter storm and through a very challenging sit uh season in our denomination and this year the bishop and the cabinet of North Texas conference we are honored to present the clergy Harry Denman evangelism award to Reverend Ken kunan Park of umus Road United Methodist Church [Applause] ladies and gentlemen of the north Texas annual conference my name is Joseph Bradley and as the associate director for children youth and camping Ministries it is my honor to present the youth Harry Denman award for evangelism to Titus Moore a young man whose extraordinary dedication has left a lasting impact on his church Community Titus an eighth grader at Parish Junior High has shown an exceptional commitment to evangelism he began attending fumc Paris in 2021 his enthusiasm has been truly inspiring shortly after his baptism in 2022 he took so much pride in his new home that he began inviting his friends to the Wednesday youth program resulting in six new attendees within the first year his influence extended Beyond his immediate circle bringing 20 new regular attendees in 2023 and an additional 12 by April of this year today 50% of fumc Paris youth group consists of students with no prior family connection to the church thanks in large part to titus's efforts packing their gym with 35 to 50 youth who choose to spend their WIS day nights in a safe place with food and bible study and this is a testament to the power of Youth L evangelism yes Titus Moore's dedication and passion are a shining example of the impact that one young person can have his story is a reminder of the power of invitation and the incredible potential within our youth and within each and every one of us congratulations to Titus on receiving the Harry Denman award for evangelism for youth his legacy of faith and invitation will come to inspire us all accepting this award on his behalf is Reverend Katrina cson Smith the associate pastor and youth minister at First United Methodist Church of Paris [Applause] well good afternoon I'm Kim Brandon again and I'm here to present the north Texas conference 2024 Harry Denman evangelism award for adult lady and this year's award is awarded to someone you've heard a little bit about already Carrie Miner Carrie is a longtime member of first UMC witcha Falls and she has the heart of an evangelist recently Carrie had the idea idea to invite neighbors to watch movies at first UMC witto Falls as a way for them to feel comfortable inside the church walls you see many of these Neighbors near the church um are people in the margins are currently unhoused then Carrie thought to serve a meal as well and dinner and a movie was born when I visited dinner in a movie last month Carrie and the volunteers welcomed 70 neighbors for juicy bacon cheeseburgers homemade pineapple upside down cake and a movie and they do that every month also Carrie is present most almost weekly at the Wesley of witcha Falls free lunch program where she helps prep and serve food to students she invites these students to attend worship all the while being mindful of where they are in their faith Carrie emulates aay servant Ministry model by welcoming The Stranger and calling them to join Carrie makes people who are ignored feel seen and heard she lets others know that they are wanted and accepted just the way they are in addition she creates a space for fellow church members at which T Falls to interact with neighbors and to see who those neighbors truly are children of God Carrie would you please come up [Applause] bishop and Friends of the north Texas conference I'm Reverend Cheryl Murphy and I stand before you today as the chair of the north Texas commission on Christian unity and inner religious concerns at the annual conference every year we represent and and give an award to a church ministry um that has Faithfully served the passion of Bishop William B Odin's ecumenical work the work is this award is given in his name for that work I believe Interfaith programs and work are important in our communities and in our neighborhoods as they are becoming each year more and more diverse the hope of myself and the committee is that we will each challenge ourselves to think of ways that we can create Ministry that will bring us in contact with other faiths and find common ground and also a safe place to discuss things we may not always agree on the bishop Odin award this year is being presented to a church that embodies that Spirit Grace Avenue United Methodist Church is in a very diverse neighborhood of Frisco details are found on page 19 in your workbook to tell you a bit more about this ministry I want to invite the pastor that are leading this pastors Billy and Laura OS [Applause] RoR thank you for this honor my name is Billy Eckles RoR I have the joy of being one of the pastors at Grace Avenue United Methodist Church in Frisco standing with me today are Laura Eckles RoR our executive Pastor lri Hansen Robert ber s who is our executive minister of worship and the coordinator of our community Interfaith choir Pastor Laura bird who is the pastor of adult discipleship and Outreach Carol Dirks who is our lay chair of our journey toward racial Justice team and Melissa Colette our lay leader at Grace Avenue we believe that everyone needs a sense of home we believe that everyone needs a spiritual home we believe that everyone needs an emotional home we believe that everyone needs a physical home and for the past 25 years as we've served in the frisco Community we have seen dramatic changes and growth and maybe one of the most dramatic changes that we have seen in Frisco in the last 25 years is the growth of religious diversity today there are over 80 languages being spoken in the frisco Independent School District in and there are over 20 different Faith Traditions that take time to observe and adhere to their religious Faith now I used to say to everyone I think everyone needs a church home but now I look at our community and what I realize is that everyone needs a spiritual home in our community it may be a mosque or it may be a synagogue or it may be a temple and yes it may be a church but everyone needs a spiritual home in the past two years I have had the privilege of convening a restart of The Frisco Interfaith Alliance and you can read more about our activities and our events on page 19 of your conference workbook but I want to say to you though that these events are really designed not to be ends in themselves but instead these events are designed in order that one toone interface relationships can be established throughout the community and throughout the year this is where I believe Interfaith work has its greatest impact and we have begun to see that taking place through the frisco Interfaith Alliance to exemplify what I'm talking about in terms of these relationships I want to tell you a story a week after the tragic events of October the 7th I gathered at a local coffee shop with two of my Muslim friends and two of my Jewish friends who I have met through the frisco Interfaith Alliance we talked about Israel we talked about Palestine and we talked about the suffering that was taking place in Gaza we named our fears and we shared Our Hope For Peace and as we left we agreed to pray for one another each in our own religious tradition now as we left that place we recognized that the issues there are much larger and much more complex than any of us however we left that day with a commitment to one another that as far as it was left to us we would be agents for peace I have to tell you that I left that Interfaith congre conversation that day and as I left that conversation I felt a deeper sense of faith in Jesus Christ this conversation had enhanced my faith and it was my prayer that that conversation also had enhanced and deepened the Devotion to their faith as well I believe this is what the work of inner faith is all about today we are honored to receive this award named for Bishop William Bodin who just so happened to be the resident Bishop of the north Texas annual conference when Grace Avenue was planted 25 years ago thank you once [Applause] again for [Applause] the one matters discipleship award celebrates churches that have moved away from zero baptisms or or zero professions of Faith to at least one after a season of zero professions of Faith First United Methodist Church of alvoid in 2023 went from zero to 8 in a congregation that worships 53 that's 15% of their average average worship attendance made a profession of faith in 2023 that's worth an [Applause] Applause in 2020 Reverend Carol spars was appointed to First United Methodist Church of alvoid as Gatherings began post pandemic season Pastor Carol and First United Methodist Church connected with their community in ballfields at flag polls and Auditorium they took treats and letters of encouragement to teachers and staff they LED events for the fellowship of Christian athletes they hosted Balor senior breakfast and other activities inside and outside the church they took their church school partnership to the next level and that investment in relationships resulted in four new families joining their small Church and eight young people making a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ in the town of alvoid Texas and now it's my honor to introduce from discipleship Ministries the director of worship and arts for discipleship Ministries our very own Lisa Hancock to present the one matters discipleship Awards thank you I bring you greetings from our all of discipleship Ministries but especially our general secretary Jeff Campbell the mission of discipleship Ministries is to challenge and support local church and conference leaders for our task of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world we do this by offering resources Consulting training and networking in congregational vitality and intentional discipleship Community engagement and church planting and worship Ministries we are delighted this year to partner with the north Texas conference to award the one matters discipleship award this award has existed since 2015 with the intent of lifting up churches who have in recent years move from zero baptisms or zero professions of Faith to positive numbers as they begin to focus on intentional discipleship and gosh we went from0 to eight what a thing to celebrate now in addition to the one matters discipleship plaque this church will receive $1,000 to continue their work of discipleship in their Community with this award we recognize what moving from zero to one represents a life transformed by the grace of God a life that matters to God and a life that matters to us because each one and eight matters so it is with great pleasure that I present to Reverend Carol Sparks and fumc alvoid the 2024 one matters discipleship award [Applause] can we have representatives from First United Methodist Church alvoid please join us at the front I guess they're out making disciples amen well okay uh on behalf of First United Methodist Church alvoid I have it okay all right thank you so much for those present and congratulations to all the recipients of the awards we're going to take a two-minute standing pause before we move on with a resolution we have four resolutions left we've been sitting for a while now we're going to be switching gear so just right where you are stand up take a stretcher then we'll come right back in two minutes don't leave the building don't leave the room and then we'll resume again [Music] everything around i' never moread inth we won't we [Music] won i' still got joy in [Music] chos I'm not H by my own all right let's find our seats so we can get moving this afternoon we're almost there yeah please yeah please go ahead all right Owen has an update about uh Carol Sparks Carol Spark's daughter stepped off a curb this morning and broke her leg and Carol is at Orthopedics and they don't know if her child's going to have to go into to to surgery or not but she sends her gratitude and thanks to the north Texas conference and to discipleship Ministries for this award so please keep Pastor Carol uh and her child in your prayers o Owen before you leave pray for Carol and her daughter let us pray let me call Carol I want her to hear us that's all all right Carol you're on speaker phone with the uh North Texas conference oh my goodness well hello North Texas conference so um we are thrilled that we were given such an award and that we were honored this little congregation's working really hard to try to bring the good news to our community and in doing so we've really reached out to the Local Schools trying to become real active in that we have an older congregation and so um we're trying to find ways that they could engage with them and in doing so we met a lot of young families that were not churched and we were excited because the families came as a result of their students going through confirmation and they wanted Christian education for their children and consequently then they begin to um and uh we had 12 uh people join four families join um last year and three of them now are in active leadership in our congregation and are a part of we hope part of the new um faces and new spaces so that next year we'll be able to come and celebrate what God's doing through that Ministry so in the midst of disaffiliation and a pandemic and financial woes this congregation's not giving up uh we just keep struggling and yet um struggling for the cause of the good news so I'm I'm really really proud of this congregation North Texas conference can we show our our love and appreciation Carol and what is her name Alexandra okay church let us pray for Alexandra merciful Lord we thank you for this this day and the opportunity that we have to come together Lord in your name and that we're able to approach your throne and to lift up in unity Lord Alexandra Lord we pray for healing upon her Lord we ask you to hear the prayer of her mother that she doesn't have to go into surgery Lord we pray for a speedy recovery we thank you for your work through the doctors through the nurses through the technology Lord and and especially Lord through the work of your Holy Spirit alleviate pain bring healing and give a peace that surpasses understanding and we pray all this in Christ's name and may all the people say amen amen thank and as an aside my two 10-year-old boys were devastated that we couldn't go to annual conference today they are truly going to be United Methodist men one day so I was real proud of thaten thank you Owen uh the next item on our agenda is resolution number seven Church land use that's on page 32 of your conference workbook my apology Bishop um good afternoon uh bishop and members of the annual conference and guests if you would indulge me a few seconds if you don't mind uh I would appreciate it um I'm Danielle buan Kim and it has been my privilege to fulfill the role of convenor for this resolution working group um I would like to acknowledge and Express gratitude to Reverend Dr Scott trer who D diligently served as the co-convenor throughout our conversation the resolution committee engaged in a passionate and productive conversation regarding this resolution and suggested number of edits to strengthen the resolution and proactively address any possible confusion the author graciously accepted these suggestions as friendly amendments and brought forth the amended version to the members of the annual conference conference this morning and or will bring um and the resolution working group unanimously voted in favor of recommending this resolution to be adopted by the members of the annual conference and this concludes my report Bishop thank you and what was a recommendation of the of the I'm sorry I was yes it was unanimously voted in favor of recommending as revised yes yes with the revised and we have the the revised Edition that's a revised and this is again on on app right on the app okay on the app yes all right thank you my name is Mel kway I'm a retired Elder in the north Texas conference uh and Bishop and members of the conference I bring you greetings today from the United Methodist creation Justice movement which is building a movement within the United Methodist Church and beyond for the work of creation care Justice and regeneration I have the honor of serving on the steering committee of that group and uh hope to be able to bring to the annual conference much of the work that we're doing uh this particular resolution uh came from our work in the creation Justice movement and um it is an aspirational uh resolution uh because each of us represent churches that have properties and biblical mandate is that we are called to be stewards of all God's creation uh we're it scripture gives us that mandate and um I am blessed to in retirement worship at Grace Avenue United Methodist Church where we have a very active creation J um Care Ministry and we are implementing a lot of the proposals that are suggested in this particular resolution uh but understand that while there are many suggestions in this resolution there is not a one-size fits all this is giving you some suggestions on how you can incorporate caring for God's creation in the use of your church buildings your church lands and as well as our conference camp in Retreat centers among other things so with that um Bishop I move that we accept this resolution okay the resolution is before us it's been U uh brought um by the maker and it's been recommended by the resolution um committee that met so is there any discussion seeing none are we ready to vote if you would support resolution number seven Church land use raise your hand oppose same sign and the resolution is adopted next item on the agenda is resolution number8 the green team formation thank you Bishop thank you annual conference we thought that was going to take a minute longer good job I am here as a writing representative of resolution 8 which has been renamed from the Green Team in your Hua app you do have a revised copy that is printed uh where the documents are it has been renamed and retitled renewing our commitment to environmental stewardship I'm Reverend Ashley an site the lead pastor of this Ridge United Methodist Church and I wanted to start uh with the voices that are really really powerful in moving my congregation in new ways which are a couple of the voices of my youth climate change is a serious concern our oceans River rivers and lakes are being polluted oil spills waste are destroying our Waters forests are being cut down animals are losing their natural habitats as we continue to expand human only civilization Genesis tells us that we are to take charge of the Earth but we aren't doing a great job with our homework 16-year-old as of this week Lizzie Potter you invited us here this is one of my other youth delegates that is here today you invited us here this year as youth Ates to make a difference in the future of the church but young people cannot make a positive impact in a world if we do not have a world to make an impact upon young people have already made changes in their daily lives to reduce the negative impacts on the world around us for example recycling reusing thrifting using sustainable water bottles which if you've noticed on the stage we've watched each of our young people bring one up [Applause] it is discouraging to young people to see our role models in the church not putting in as much effort as we are especially when you are begging us to make positive change in the world and to use our voices here is our voice asking you to change your ways this this resolution would demonstrate that the church is reprioritizing their commitment that many of the youth have already made and at the end of the day this resolution benefits everyone who lives in God's beautiful world as a pastor who has the honorable pleasure and joy of pastoring some of these powerful Young Voices it is my call that we would listen to them and their cry that we've got to do a better job protecting the resources and natural energies that God has has given to all of us to stewards so well I just wanted to leave you with one example of how this has impacted our local church uh we decided to use uh one of our core Partners this year as keep Lewisville beautiful who already had a bags to benches program we decided to partner with them and just put out a garbage can in our narx to collect plastic within six months we had collected more pounds of plastic at vistage United Methodist Church than the City of Lewisville had collected in five years one of our youths decided to get even more competitive and said I'm a trainer on the athletic team at Lewisville High School and my football players throw away a lot of Gatorade bottles I'm going to put a bin in the boys locker room we have since collected way more pounds of plastic that have been transformed into benches for our City's parks there are little tiny moves that we can make as the church and they will inspire the Next Generation as they are inspiring me to stand here before you [Applause] today hello my name is Ted Haynes and I'm the lay leader for the East district and um I I worship at First United Methodist Church in windsboro and I had the honor of serving as a convenor for the uh resolution that you just heard about and I got to serve that with Carrie Lyn Lucas who uh by the way is moving to the east District so we're very excited about having her come there uh the resolution 8 work group met and had a cleal energetic friendly and really thoughtful conversation with the authors we really appreciated them three of them were there uh the the group expressed her support for the resolution but with some language suggestions and they were all the suggestions were really concerning how to elevate the importance of this resolution and help with its acceptance so the authors were very interested in what we had to say or what the group had to say and they were accommodating and they agreed to make the changes accordingly so the revisions are reflected in the revised resolution that is on the app provides number eight uh the work group was pulled following U the discussion and uh had a unanimous vote to uh support the approval of this resolution so the so our committee recommends that the body adopt resolution number eight thank you thank you the motion is to adopt resolution number eight renewing our commitment to the environment it is proberly before us is there any discussion if you would approve the adoption of resolution number8 renewing our commitment to the environment raise your hand oppose sign and the motion is adopted the resolution is adopted next item on our agenda is resolution number nine these resolutions are on our app uh yes there's an updated uh revised resolution in the huba app uh thank you thank you First United Methodist Richardson for hosting us today thank you to the bishop um to all of us gathered here um and thank you for the convening committee yesterday who helped us revise and amend some of uh the language of this resolution uh this resolution was put forth uh I along with its co-sponsors have uh watched the events unfolding in Gaza over the last eight months with increasing horror and despair uh I feel and we feel it would be remiss if this body did not address uh this crisis in even the most symbolic of ways by reaffirm reaffirming our commitment to uh international human rights uh and our commitment to our calling as followers of Christ resolving to petition beg plead with the powers and principalities of this world uh for the violence to stop the courage Christ calls us to requires it if not here where if not now when if not us who uh to quote the Council of Bishops in a statement this March uh we believe that the current military strategy of the Israeli government supported by the US weapons transfers and Aid will only lead to the destruction of the entire Gaza Strip and unconscionable death toll that grows daily the perpetuation of one of the world's longest conflicts and the proliferation of increased enmity between Israelis and Palestinians which has historically led to increased militarization on both sides there is no peace to be found in this strategy an estimated 40,000 Palestinians have been killed many of them children hundreds of thousands are now displaced and dispossessed places of worship schools hospitals destroyed the numbers are unfathomable because journalists can no longer keep count Aid workers can no longer tend the wounded food shipments can no longer reach the starving the actions of the Israeli government and the inaction or tacit support of our own government run contrary to our social principles international human rights law and the teachings of Christ Christ we have a responsibility as Christians and as citizens of conscience to call that power to account uh this resolution may not stop a single bomb from falling or keep a single bullet from being fired but it will add our voices to the throng that cries for peace that demands peace this resolution will add our voices to the host of Believers and non-believers across the world that yearn to bind up the wounds and beat our swords into plow shares I hope and pray you will join me and the co-sponsors of this resolution and add your voice to that choir thank you let's hold our Applause let's hold our Applause good afternoon my name is Jennifer Kilpatrick and I serve as the pastor pastor at Lakewood United Methodist Church in Dallas I had the honor of serving as the room convenor for the working group for the resolution that you just heard about along with our co-convenor Leanne Johnston we enjoyed an amicable discussion that was very friendly and very heartfelt it was an animated discussion but it was really good and very respectful and really with the exception of two votes the resolution enjoyed broad support within the group the one of the concerns that was raised about this resolution was that it is a very controversial Hot Topic and there was some concern that people might leave churches over it and the authors of the resolution were very understanding and thankful for that feedback and their response to that was that they feel that God does not call us to be silent on important Global issues like this and that there might be those types of responses but speaking out requires us to have courage and to step out in faith knowing that there might be a variety of reactions to the resolution most of the feedback that we got on the resolution in the room were actually friendly suggested amendments to the resolution which the authors were very receptive to and in fact actually incorporated into the resolution itself those proposed amendments did not change the sub substance of the resolution they just really tweaked some language to ensure that the resolution effectively addressed the issues at hand in a way that better supports the author's intent with respect to where they were going with the resolution ultimately the working group voted nine members in favor of the resolution with two voting against so overall we support this resolution that concludes my report thank you the motion to adopt resolution number nine Palestine ceasefire is before the body Bishop I would uh during the if I may during uh the interim session a friendly amendment was was proposed uh to my co-author and I that we would like to to accept and incorporate uh if we if we may at this time okay um the uh friendly Amendment we received uh asked that in our first now therefore be it resolve statement in uh calling to suspend military aid the friendly friendly Amendment asked to specify offensive military aid uh to ensure that we're not um impacting the defense of Israel so uh and the co-authors and I we accepted that as a specification to include in an amendment to all right so the Palestine uh the Palestine ceasefire resolution is now before the body as amended and on our app is there any discussion if you would adopt resolution number nine Palestine ceasefire raise your hand oppose same sign and the resolution is adopted next item on the agenda is resolution number 10 one body before we go on uh Katie Nome Katie are you is Katie here Katie would you pray for peace for the Middle East this be this is hard um on on human beings and uh we pray and we support the effort through umcor and through other agencies and pray for a ceasefire when I was with a council of Bishops or Bishop yamasu um was talking about peace in in the Congo and he said the first step for peace is that we got to stop shooting bullets at each other then we can start to talk and so peace process is a long process but then there's also the reconciliation and the healing that comes out there so so would you lift up those involved in the conflict yes thank you will you pray with me holy and loving God we give you thanks for the gift of this day and God we know that you call us to be peacemakers blessed are the peacemakers and we know that the work of peacemaking is hard and difficult so God God we ask for your help as we continue to imagine what peacemaking can do to our world that you would sustain us in that continued effort God we give you thanks that the work of our faith is not just personal Holiness but it is social Holiness and so God we call out to our world for peace God we pray for Israelis and Palestinians alike we pray that there may be peace there may be ceasefire because God we value the sanctity of all of your creation so God help us to use our voice to be the peacemakers may this conflict end swiftly and soon we pray all these things in the name of your son Jesus Christ amen amen thank you Katie next item on the agenda agenda is resolution number 10 one body many parts Bishop siblings in Christ thank you for considering this resolution today I am still Reverend Heather goddess Moore I'm a deacon in full connection serving at perin School of Theology and I'm chair of the commission on the status and role of women my pronouns are she her hers and I am a white cisgender woman with brown hair wearing a teal dress yellow tights and brown cowboy boots which my dad would have called well I won't say that here I stand here this morning representing the seven clergy women who gathered their voices together to work together uh to author this resolution now I'd venture to say that many of you or some of you are saying another resolution or maybe haven't we dealt with the issue of diversity yes and this resolution was born out of the already not yet out of the realization that we are still with God's help going on to Perfection and we have not arrived yet the north Texas conference has done significant work to create parity between all people regardless of gender race culture ability and sexuality during our time together this during this conference we have seen just a small example of the diversity in the Lei and clergy leaders in our conference including a historic and fabulous class of commission and ordin and as the leaders in the church we know how easy it is to fall back into the status quo to what's easy and comfortable and we know that we must stay vigilant and hold ourselves accountable to what we believe about the kingdom of God in preparing this resolution in the many conversations that we had with concerned clergy and Le we were reminded of the concept of dialectics multiple things can in fact be true as at the same time yes and we can acknowledge how far we have come and embrace the journey that is not yet complete this resolution is meant to raise awareness that we still have work to do take a moment and look around you there is a woman and or a person of color sitting near you who has experienced harm and is traumatized and ret traumatized by some of the things that we have done and or said and not done or said as an annual conference we have not yet arrived we are talking about deep cultural issues that take time and intentionality change is uncomfortable but it is where the growth happens I for one believe that this annual conference is committed to this work this resolution is meant to call us to that work to recommit us to this work both now and even as we set a foundation as we embark on our new chapter as the Horizon Texas conference we hope this resolution will serve as a foundation as a resource for the new conference leadership as we work to create a community rooted in mutuality equity and empowerment of all people people thank you thank you good afternoon Bishop members and guests of the annual conference my name is Jessica Wright and I serve as pastor at gra9 Methodist in Sherman I have the honor of serving as the convenor for the resolution working group for resolution 10 one body many parts our commitment to diversity in the church the body of Christ along with my co-convenor Tim Crouch 16 folks gathered to discuss this resolution ution the general tenor of the conversation was supportive it included some lament that we are still working to shift the culture in our churches and communities toward greater inclusion and diversity members of our group recognized and celebrated how far we have come as an annual conference and affirmed that we must remain diligent and intentional so that we do not accidentally slide back into the status quo the authors made it clear that they have shared their concerns with leaders of our annual conference and have Incorporated their feedback into the resolution we have before us the resolution working group affirmed the necessity of uncomfortable conversations that lead to growth no amendments were offered and the group voted unanimously to recommend this resolution for approval by our annual conference thank you resolution number 10 is before us one body many parts it has not been amended it is before us as drafted is there any discussion microphone to yeah hi uh Dave pikarski Community United Methodist uh North Central District um I I I guess I'm I'm a little confused we've set as a conference our five strategic priorities one of them being this precise topic and now we want a resolution as well I'm it seems like we're piling on I'm just trying to understand at which at which point we have uh put too much paperwork into it and not enough action thank you so let's hold our Applause so are you asking an inquiry from the resolution um that's a that's a fair question I I I believe I'm speaking against the resolution not because of its content but because I believe it's redundant okay that's a speech against a resolution microphone number three Maggie prochek Deacon um serving in an extension Ministry this is a speech for the resolution um while I have seen the work that this North Texas annual conference has done and I'm very appreciative as a um Asian American woman here in our conference but I will tell you all that this morning one of our members of the north Texas annual conference mistook me for a different Asian woman he said to me thank you for your words this morning and friends I did not speak this morning but another colleague of mine who is an Asian-American woman did in fact speak we have work to still do our work is not done so let us continue to make resolutions let us continue to put paperwor so that we that way we may be held accountable for this work that is still yet to be done thank you that's a speech in favor no let's we're not going to be applauding we're not going to be applauding that's a speech in favor is there anyone else who wishes to speak all right I think we're ready to vote so the motion is on the adoption of resolution number 10 one body many parts if you would support the resolution raise your hand if you would oppose a resolution raise your hand and the motion is adopted and and the resolution is adopted thank [Applause] you I was I was before I make a comment we have one more item of business before we move into our uh history of the north Texas conference archives and history report um chair recognizes Andy Lewis for the consent calendar thank you Bishop friends the consent calendar now has been properly before you since yesterday morning even with the extended time to potentially receive requests to remove items none have been received therefore I move that the consent calendar be approved as presented on pages 12 and 13 in the conference workbook all right the consent calendar is on what page Andy 12 and 13 12 and 13 of your conference workbook if you would approve the consent calendar on pages 12 and 13 of your workbook raise your hand oppose same sign and they are approved thank you Bishop the count the items are approved okay uh we have a presentation now from the history of the north Texas conference archives would you please come forward for good afternoon good afternoon thank you my name is Francis long I am archivist of the South Central jurisdiction and also a church historian for this church the north Texas [Applause] conference the words I'm going to share are partially from a book entitled methodism moves across North Texas it was written by Walter and Vernon Jr who was a well-known historian and author for this conference be it remembered that on the day October 9th 1867 came the traveling preachers into North Texas here too four of late members of the East Texas conference now living and laboring within the bounds of the Trinity conference to organize within Trinity the conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South in 1872 1874 the Trinity conference name was changed to the north Texas Conference of the Methodist Church First Methodist preacher that came into North Texas was in 1815 William Stevenson from the state of [Music] Tennessee the methodists have changed and all these years are places and our thoughts and our reason being for being here has altered a little except for one thing we're still the Servants of Jesus Christ and our savior from log cabins and outdoor brush H hars to temples of steel glass and artwork starting from the East and going west it is a story of Faith Journeys by Circuit Riders and settlers who struggled to survive but they have their stories as each one of you have a story from carbon paper to smartphones the opening of quarterly conferences was are we yet alive sitting around a campfire singing pass it on do you you remember this first sermon that helped turn your life around the alen corner how many churches have amen quarters today but we are definitely still alive remembering the Epworth League the women's missionary Society life has changed the places we meet in the world words we use have [Music] changed but the reason we are here today has not changed our commitment to our Lord and savior is still our Focus the commitment to the north Texas conference is still alive and well and we thank God and we celebrate the story of our conference a past that we have he inherited and all of you have a story that has been given as a gift for you to give to someone else we thank God for a story to celebrate a past that we have inherited we celebrate our present to build on the future of the United Methodist Church remember you each have a story to share not only with each other but with archives and history to help you learn how to tell that story [Applause] better good afternoon bishop and members I'm Lily Jenkins Walker and I'm the north Texas conference archist good afternoon all um please bear with me as I I read a brief snapshot of the past Year's activities in 2023 United Methodist local churches and congregations live by their faith and by scriptures such as be strong take Heart Hope in the Lord as the church moves confidently forward the conference remains vibrant and Keen by God's grace and we say thank you to our Bishop and to the 626 local pastors serving local churches throughout the conference your leadership service stamina and constancy in faith have strengthened us we say thanks and bid fond farewells to retirees we extend our hand to welcome new leaders new members MERS and new congregations the archive continues to document the business and collect records of the annual conference during 2023 many of you called on us a assisted by Bridwell library's reference and special collection staff we responded to your inquiries some needed help to find baptismal records and also to find homes for used himels and even a baby grand piano let me provide a brief snapshot of the past Year's activities the archive collected records from several disaffiliated and closed churches and also acquired some of Wesley Ranken community centers historic records transferring them to Bridwell library for processing staff provided input as the conference Communications team led by Melissa Potter redesigned the conference website the archive staff responded to information needs from Perkins School of theology's historic Mexican-American program and attendant trainings for church Ley and on the history of black homesteaders thanks to efforts of Kent Roberts we number among church history writers who meet virtually for accountability and information exchange and support your North Texas archive also participated in the virtual circuit writers project preliminary project that it is hoped will help to digitize the Holdings of United Methodist archives and provide pastors genealogists researchers Church historians history makers and history Seekers with greater access to Methodist Church records than ever before um stay tuned this project is being spearheaded by the general Commission on archives and history this is an exciting time for the conference archives indeed to paraphrase Monica Fraser's comment found in an article on the conference website she said more than documenting the B business and records of an annual conference the role of conference archives is one of connection charged with preserving a conference's history and Heritage to serve as a jumping off point for the church's future the conference archive held at Bridwell library SMU is your archive it has been my pleasure to serve alongside distinguish colleagues we ask for your continued support and Goodwill may God bless you thank [Applause] you good afternoon everyone my name is Greta mckelvie I serve as the chair of our North Texas conference archives and history commission it's my honor to serve along with Francis and Lily distinguished archivists as well as our commission Mary Brooke and Melissa and our other team members so thank you for hearing us out in this moment as I said Francis spoke to our past Lily Lily spoke to our present and I will speak ever so briefly to our future there have been a thousand no a million moments between then and now but our future has not been written yet do we have an anxiety written Future No the future does not stop with our current generation the obituary for the church our denomination and our new conference has not been written the movie credits for our archive and history commission have not rolled the osy has not been performed the book of discipline paragraph 641 says so to inspire our future we are reminded and encouraged by the troops of Gideon for our Lord and John Wesley's methodism our Lord God widowed the truths from 32,000 to 10,000 so that 10,000 remained he called or separated further by saying if you are afid or trembling go home then the Lord refined to 300 saying those who lap water like dogs go home the good news we are the troops who remained we are the United methodists who stayed so be United methodists meod for for our future we are resolved to be followers of Jesus who seek the loving just and Free World God Imagines for all people so be United methodists for our future we are resolved to multiply jesus' followers Champion Children and Youth maximize care and healing pursue and embrace diversity and tell our story so be United methodists for our Lord God we are resolved to rebuild and recommit to the church so be United methodists for our Lord God we are resolved to new and creative Ministry and Mission so be United methodists for our future we are resolved to stretch equality across our region so be United methodists for our future we are resolved to serve a unified conference and our local churches so be United methodists for John Wesley's methodism we are resolved to protect our Pathways and preserve our journey through archives and history so be United methodists for John Wesley's methodism we're resolve to tell our story and honor our heritage leaving a legacy and inspiring our future a future of Hope and anticipation for our God knows the plans God has for us plans to prosper plans for peace to give us hope and a future so be United methodists and May the peace of Christ which transcends understanding guards our hearts and our minds along our journey so be United methodists thank you [Applause] if any of you preachers ever need a Sunday off for your for your mental health or well-being you that's she can preach thank you so much thank you so much for the and thank you for the work of the archist who are are holding the treasures of our past or present and also helping us write the new future ahead of us so we have some closing announcements from Kenny Dixon and then we're going to take a standing pause for 10 minutes while we rearrange the furniture up here and we'll move right into our closing service all right you've done good we are like 30 40 minutes ahead of time so thank you for your good work today and for your patience you you I I've I've been sitting here just thinking about what you said this is who we want to be as we go through all the resolutions and the decisions and the unification process you you have an a powerful identity and it's it's just amazing to watch I I was you make this work easy today for you know for for your chair um but at the same time there has been an enormous amount of work and many hours that have been put into this and it's reflective of um of the decision that you've made and the quality of the of the thought work and the theological work and and the and the vision for who God is calling us to be so just thank you so much for that Kenny oh sorry thank you sh Sharon Reverend Sharon would you please come up on behalf of Bishop signs and the north Texas conference we would like to thank the following First United Methodist of Richardson Reverend Dr Clayton olant clergy and staff especially Christian Caesar Eric sasi and the music team and all of the volunteers Reverend DD Jones Michael Rosensteel Mike Lightfoot and all the musicians and choirs who led us in worship Reverend Cheryl Bishop who coordinated the ordination service annual conference planning team Reverend BT Hall and the teller team Reverend he Heather goddess Moore vendor in sponsorship Reverend Nick McGray resolution working groups Reverend Elizabeth Mosley toolbox sessions annual conference co-chairs Reverend Pavel Jenkins Reverend Scott Gillan Reverend Denise pekam Reverend Kenny Dixon and Conference secretaries Paul Lon Chancellor cabinet and North Texas conference staff Pam Hughes and the community ation team Center of connectional ministry staff Reverend Andy Lewis District administrative assistants Martha holcom of North Central Liz Lancaster Metro retiring Jan Chapman East retiring Robin Jordan East and Brandy Cleveland Northwest the order of St Luke who led the morning prayer and prepar the gluten-free bread for closing worship and the live captioning sponsors General Board of Global Ministries United Methodist committee on death and heart of hearing Ministry North Texas conference Board of church and society and death Ministry at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church let's give everybody a hand clap of praise thank you Reverend Lin reever Lin starts as a local pastor of St Luke Community there are two other persons that have been hard at work all throughout the conference and that's ser adame and he's doing the Spanish language translation in some room in the within the church and also our Clos captioning um and this is uh Tess is her name and so she has also been providing the Clos captioning which makes it uh easier for us to follow along with with the uh conversation and the discussion so thanks to them as well all right at this time we're going to take a standing pause 10 minutes while we allow the the team to uh prepare our area for closing worship please don't far thank you please be seated well every time I meet with a cabinet or a small group I always like to end our time by asking let's just think a little bit about about the day I call it reviewing the day so so if I've got we got a three the three-day meeting we'll pause at the end of every day and just ask what did we get done at the end of the second day what do we get done now and then at the close of the third days is what do we get done even sometimes with a one-hour meeting what do we get done and so I think it's important that we that we that we just kind of give us ourselves a a moment to process what we've gotten done I'm processing ing myself I'm always processing what's going on throughout a 3-day conference as we've experienced outstanding Hospitality outstanding preaching outstanding music an outstanding spirit that has been in this place and you know and May and I when we leave we'll be processing for the next two or three days like hey did you remember I had a conversation here or somebody said this or you know this song was sung or you know I saw this on the floor and and we'll be processing and processing and processing and processing um because a lot has happened and you as as church members and pastors are going to go back home and let your congregations know what happened here and I hope it's hard for you to put into words because uh what is must be something in the air what has happened here is uh is really amazing I mean but but I don't want to do the processing for you I want to give you an opportunity to process with your neighbor so don't get too rowdy but um the question is um and I'm just going to ask you one question what word is still ringing in your ears what is something that was sung a preacher a comment a conversation uh a presenter what what is something that is ringing in your ears okay I'll give you two minutes one minute each person and just share with a person next to you look this was said on day one day two day three and I'm I'm still that's still ringing in my ears what was it go ahead two minutes and then we'll call you back e all right ready well good I'm I'm I'm I hope you had an opportunity to uh to just kind of remember one thing that that has happened uh in in this day and I'm sure that if we had everybody go to the mic there'd be like a thousand different things that are still ringing in your [Music] ears pray with me please Lord open our hearts and Minds by the power of your holy spirit that as the scriptures are read and your word is proclaimed we may hear with joy what you say to us today amen I'm going to read for you again from Ephesians 34- 21 for this reason I bow my knees before the father from whom every family in heaven and on Earth takes its name I pray that according to the riches of God's glory God May grant you that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the spirit and that Christ May dwell in your hearts through faith as you are being rooted and grounded in love I pray that you may have the power to comprehend with all the saints what is a bread and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that's passes knowledge so that you may be filled with the fullness of God now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever amen so as as I look as we close our time together and I look out I'm just I'm just filled with gratitude for each one of you in all the ways that you serve Christ in in your world your your dedication and your passion and your unwavering commitment to the me to the mission of our United Methodist Church is is truly inspiring as we've heard stories of discipleship and Ministry and Mission and compassion throughout all the week um we're we're entering a new chapter of ministry we really are I was blessed to hear about the archives you know that the north Texas conference I if I remember correctly was started in 1972 when it moved from the TR 1872 1872 when it it moved from the Trinity conference to the north Texas conference and so for 152 years uh this annual conference has has proclaimed the gospel in this area of tech and you've done it well and we celebrate all of the work that your churches and your pastors and your L have accomplished throughout these 152 years of ministry uh you you leave a lasting Legacy um but together we'll be able to collaborate and share resources now with the Central and Northwest Texas annual conferences and I know that their resources and ideas and practices will benefit us resulting in a stronger Church community and our witness in the world we're going to be able to exemplify the collective voice of United Methodist across North Texas providing a stronger platform for advocacy and a greater impact on important issues within the church and the broader Society we're going to claim our place in the Market Square again because we're people that stands for a lot of things a lot of people in our world stand against everything we do stand against some stuff anything that is involved with the death or the suppression or the marginalization or or the exclusion of others we we stand against that but more importantly that doesn't Define us what defines us is what we stand for and today you made a lot of decisions about the things that you said this is who we are and this is what we stand for as United Ed Methodist and I really appreciate the devotional that says you know God Whittle down from 22,000 to 10,000 to and it went all the way down to 300 and said we're the ones left here and uh and so this is who we are and I'm just amazed because you know what as a presider I'm just helping you do the work the holy work that God has called you to I'm just helping you just stay engaged in a holy conversation and and our job is to implement your will which you want to do we'll we'll do our best to to help realize those aspirations that you said that you want to live into so now we said this is what we want to do and be and so now let's let's all work together to to make it done so that it's it's not just a a lot of paperwork but there's actually some action behind our words and uh and so the point is and I really appreciate the young people for holding us accountable for pretending like we're the last creatures to inhabit the planet and when we're gone just let everybody else worry about their own problem and so the young people that are here have already had an impact on us as they're as they're calling out to us uh with an existential concern that they have in their own lives they're really worried about is there going to be water when when we get to be your age is there going to be you know uh is there are we going to have to live underground or we going to have to move to another planet or what's going to happen with the sustainability of our planet and you know some of us were born in times of incredible resources and we just never imagine that they would ever be depleted or or made irreversible but they're they're leading the way and if we're if we're going to be a church that the next generation is going to want to receive and value then we need to listen to them because you know if if if that is our role as good ancestors to leave a church to them so that the mission of God can continue and unit of Methodist tradition then okay let's let's change our Behavior right and and I know I got some stuff to work on um but you know I'm going to be intentional now because Somebody's Watching somebody's eyes are always watching us whether we know it or not uh yeah I won't I won't go into that story right now sometimes when I'm preaching stories come into my my mind and I I can go off on a rabbit Trail but I won't do that right now but uh so you know our our leadership our our ability to unify I will help us widen God's love and will enhance and embrace the unique gifts that everyone brings and the perspectives and the cultural backgrounds that everyone brings to the table of the Central and North Texas and Northwest Texas conferences and our leadership experience will broaden because the other folks know some things that we don't know when I was uh pastoring in the real Grandy conference you know we were a smaller conference we were we were on10th the size of the Southwest Texas conference but the reality of it is that the real granny conference was unsustainable and but but we had demographic knowledge and cultural knowledge and the Southwest Texas conference so we were financially unsustainable the Southwest Texas conference was demographically unsustainable because the mission field was changing and they didn't reflect the mission field so we had cultural intelligence that the C the Southwest Texas conference needed the Southwest Texas conf had resources that we needed and so we decided to unify not to survive nobody wants to unify to survive we want to we want to unify to thrive and so we became the Rio Texas conference and I've been thinking about my Ministry I've been part of the Rio granny conference I've been appointed to the Southwest Texas conference I've been appointed to the Rio Texas conference I've been appointed to the Great Plains conference which is a former Kansas East Kansas West and Nebraska conference and now the the the North and Central Texas conference will one day be the the uh The Horizon Texas so it's like okay yeah you know like like someone said nothing changes except you know Jesus Christ Remains the Same conference lines and boundaries can change and all kinds of stuff can change but you know what the mission doesn't and so now we're going to be able to do that with more people and broader perspectives and new gifts that are going to come in we're we're going to embrace the journey towards becoming a more fully and diverse and inclusive church we have a lot of work to do we're not there yet but but we're going to work on it and in so doing we vowed to uphold human dignity and promote spiritual and emotional well-being we don't want to be part of the harm we want to be part of the healing and we're going to align with the teachings of Jesus and Foster growth and promote reconciliation and unity within the church and so that's who we're going to be and and as we do that we're going to be a church that will encourage a spirit of love and understanding and mutual respect for amongst ourselves and amongst our neighbors uh we're going to we're going to respect them and we're going we're going to see the humanity in them and and their dignity and your self worth we're going to be a church that heals divisions and fosters a sense of belonging and community and a shared purpose and uh so that people can get excited say I want to be part of you people because I I agree with what you're doing I might not not know this Jesus yet but let me just tag along and figure it out and uh you know the Wesley class system it really took two years for somebody to be connected to a a a class meeting until they really fully understood the the the decision they were making to put their faith in Christ so you know sometimes we think like you've got to believe before you belong but I think in today's Paradigm you got to belong before you believe and it's in the community of Christians that we really know what being a disciple of Jesus Christ is so as people belong and they connect with us through either it might be our Outreach Ministry or or an alpha course or whatever we're doing then over time they should be able to see the Christ in us and say I I want what that person has I want what that saint has so the theme for this conference is Mission possible and it's it's rooted in the powerful words of Ephesians 3:20 and 3:21 and this verse reminds us that God's powers that work within as far beyond we can ask or imagine or understand it's a call to step out in faith um it's a call to trust that With God all things are possible and as I look at at this conference I see faces filled with Mission possible Faith now you might not know how you're going to do it or how it's going to happen or when it's going to happen but you just know that it's going to happen because that's the god that we serve and God always provides a way out when there seems to be no way out God always provides a Way Forward when there seems to be no path that's the god that we serve and you know when when we do this um we do this because God has uniquely gifted us with with uh an equip for the work of ministry and that's what the the uh commissions and the elders are going to do right to equip the Saints for the work of ministry that's what it said and so that doesn't mean that you do the work but you equip the Saints for Ministry and you know when I when I was pastoring we had we were we didn't have a a lot of resources so I had to really employ the Le and so I had 21 lay persons as part-time staff members and uh at $250 a month actually just a token because they were held accountable for Ministries and I said you know what if if you have 25 you get to 50 if you get it to 50 you get 500 if you get to 750 you get 750 you get to thou to 100 then you get ,000 typen and many of them said I'm just going to put it back in the offering plate but these people you know there were teachers and and Pharmacists and just you know family persons and and they said you know serving in Ministry gives me a sense a a an experience that my job doesn't fulfill and so and so the ministry were extremely active and they they were sharing their faith and had the testimony about the church and and we were growing but it wasn't because of the preaching it was because the lay people were on fire and and they were so involved in the ministry and mission of the church and and there's nothing there's nothing to to that is more exciting than to see lay people people experience the the the incredible honor and privilege of this to step in a holy spaces to pray with a family or or to you know care for for others and it's just so lifegiving and that gives them energy to work at their job and even do it with more excellence and so when I tell you that you know we can't do this without the Le I I mean it because this is not a clergy driven organization John Wesley always relied on Ley and that was a missional genius of John Wesley that he would equip leoty for the work of mission and they went about and the movement was not a wesan movement it was a lay Le wesan movement as we want to be really specific about it and um you know and although we we Face challenges and and it's natural to to feel apprehension you know I I promise you that God is with us every step of the way okay God is with us and God is always walking ahead of us and God has equipped us with all the tools and resources to fulfill the mission and so we're not alone and this Mission field is not just within our church it is I mean many many times people will be in our churches and and and we need to care for them and equip them and and and nurture them in the Christian faith but our mission is also for those that are not yet part of who we are and it might be wher we find ourselves in our homes or or the ball ball fields or in in the uh city council chambers or I don't know where you find yourself in the courtrooms or you know working on avionics with American Airlines you know and your crew there it we're everywhere and everywhere we are we're we're making a difference and so you know but where where you are you know you reflect grace and mercy in the presence of Christ with your actions and words you know you turn away a harsh word and and you you know comfort and and encourage a a colleague and that's the presence of Christ there with you wherever you are that is what where Christ is and so we carry this fire of enthusiasm within us right it's like a fire burning in our bones because you know this this passion that we have is just unquenchable and and it compels us I like when Paul says the love of Christ compels me like it's not my this is not my idea but the love of God in Me that that fills me compels me to reach out to you and to get to know you and to get to help you come into the knowledge and Grace and love of God that I have found so that you may experience joy in your life so so we're going to step out boldly and with confidence and Trust knowing that our mission is possible because God goes before us uh so the thing the word that is the word that is really ringing in my ears as I over this whole conference is when we're talking about unification and I think we had like nine speeches in favor and one oppos and by the way I think it was like 9 99.9 uh vote and and that's good I mean we we just sent and and and we're good but but the word that really got I was sitting there and this young person came up and she asked what's Plan B and it you know I was I was thinking about this there's never been a plan B there's only been plan a failure is not an option right you know and I told the cabinet a year and a half this needs to happen and and let's organize ourselves to make it happen because we're going to come out a general conference with a very clear vision of who we are we're going to have some priorities and we're going to have all this in our Riv miror and I definitely we don't want to spend the next two years sorting this stuff out so we're going to get out the general conference and we're going to be we're going to have a brand new opportunity to walk with two other conferences and we're going to get the mission accomplished and so there is no plan B Imagine John 3:16 for God so Lov the world that God sent his only son that was a plan and there was no plan B that was it that was a that was a the the the the greatest plan there is no plan B this has got to move forward somehow some way and and then we see God you know handling interference right you know Joseph get up get out of town right migrate to Egypt let's go Mary let's go got to go uh safe to go back now let's go so you see God just kind of blocking out all all of the obstacles to to allow the thing to go forward and when you step out in faith and and you and you're all in like okay we're all in now how we're going to get this done that's when God starts to work now now trust me now now you're dependent upon me now you know that without me you're not going to do it so now we're ready to start working together friends you're plan a there is no plan B you're it let prepare our hearts for communion brothers and sisters and siblings in Christ all are invited to gather at this table of Grace to feast in God's nourishing Covenant of Love and to remember our call to spread the good news to all the world as a people of God let us now confess that that which keeps us from the holy relationship God desires with us let us confess our sin merciful god we confess that we are sometimes forget you are yours and instead lean into our weaknesses we choose actions that hurt we leave things undone that are ours to do in your name we allow ourselves to sink into disappointment and cynicism we hold on to our own strength and pride and lead with our ego we yearn for peace and Justice and less judgment yet we forget to take heart and do the work you have set before us forgive us God for the words we have spoken out and Petty anger or unchecked fear or hopelessness forgive us for the silence we maintain when you give us words to speak forgive us for overlooking our neighbors inciting Division and demanding peace instead practicing compassion pour upon us the fire of Pentecost that your spirit may move Among Us and vitalize us with your strength perseverance and hope in the name of the one God creator Christ and holy spirit we pray amen hear the good news God is righteous and just to forgive our sin and all unrighteousness in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven glory to God Amen the Lord be with you and also you lift up your hearts lift them up to the let us give thanks to our God it is right PR blessed are you merciful god whose strong and loving arms are Encompass the universe your invitation to come and feast in your presence is but a Taste of the love you extend to us every day you formed us in your image and breathed into us a breath of life when we fell into sin you did not desert Us by your very nature you're always seeking us out searching for ways to connect us and connect with us you meet us in the most ordinary of places and you make them sacred burning bush sacred by your grace we come to recognize the Holiness that dwells in the world around us in our neighbors and in our own internal depths in our inner being and so we join our voices with your people on Earth and all the company of heaven singing Praise to you holy holy holy Lord God of power and might Heaven and Earth are full of your glory hosana in the highest blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord hosana in the highest highest blessed are you and blessed is your Eternal table you welcome all who thirst for justice and hunger to grow in love you ask us to extend this same welcome to all our neighbors but since our beginning we must admit we have struggled and so in your love for us you became flesh to us in Jesus that was your plan through his life you appointed to your presence on the margins you reveal the sacredness in all life you showed us how to live together in Hope even among tremendous forces of Destruction believing it could transform the world Jesus proclaimed good news he called for the captives to be set free for the lowly to be lifted up both in spirit and in tangible truth his commitment to believing and hope and practicing love knew no bounds not even the bounds of death now the general conference just authorized our deacons with sacramental authority and our sister is going to lead us from here on on the night in which he gave himself up for us he took bread gave thanks to you broke the bread gave it to his disciples and said take eat this is my body which is given for you do this in remembrance of me and when the supper was over he took the cup and gave thanks to you and gave it to his disciples and said drink from this all of you this is my blood of the New Covenant poured out for you and for many for the Forgiveness of sins do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me and so in remembrance of these your Mighty acts in Jesus Christ we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and Living Sacrifice in Union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of Faith Christ has died Christ is risen Christ will come again pour out your Holy Spirit on these gifts oh God make these ordinary elements into the sacred gift of your presence with us once again May they awaken us a new to your invitation into a life of resurrection and hope and nourish us in our pursuit of a world where all needs are met and the worth of every creature and creation is celebrated by your spirit make us one with Christ one with each other and one in Ministry to all the world renew our hope that soon Christ may rise again among us through your son Jesus Christ with the Holy Spirit and your holy church all honor and glory is yours God Almighty now and forever amen so I mentioned yesterday that the only thing that the disciples asked Jesus to teach them about was like how do you pray that way and so let us join together in the prayer that Jesus Jesus Christ taught his disciples to pray Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but Deliver Us from Evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen because there's one loaf we who are many are one body for we all partake of the one loaf the bread which we break is a sharing in the body of Christ the cup over which we give thanks is a sharing in the body of Christ all right we'll invite the servers up yes the servers please come forward yes um have y is reminded me that all the elements are glutenfree [Music] at this table everyone is welcome at this table everyone is SE at this table everybody matters no one Falls [Music] between and that this table you can say whatever and at this table you can speak a and at this table everybody's forgi there's enough for everyone so come as [Music] you remember that the door is open so come as you the perfect gift that you can bring is your so come Come As You Are [Music] and at this table there will be no Jud and at this table Mercy has se and at this table we all Sons ands there's no place I'd [Music] be so come as you the door is always open so come as you the perfect gift that you could bring in your so come [Music] come you so come come you [Music] I've Got a Friend closer than a brother there is no judgment Oh How He Loves Me I've Got a Friend and he is my strength and he is my por with me in the valley with me in the fire with me in the [Music] storm let all my life [Music] Hallelujah we are not [Music] alone God really loves us God really loves us hallelujah oh praise my soul God really loves [Music] us God really loves us his Merc is enough his grace is [Music] suff so if you come needed healing he's here for his Mercy done and he he is [Music] enough his word it has spoken and death is no more but Christ is Lord and this is [Music] hallelujah we are not [Music] alone God really loves us God really loves [Music] us [Music] hallelujah oh praise my soul God really loves us God really loves us [Music] oh oh what a father what a friend What A Savior he is what a father what a friend What A Savior he is what a father what a friend What A Savior he is one more time what a father what a friend What A Savior he is hallelujah we are not alone God really loves us God really loves us it's [Music] Hallelujah Oh Praise My Soul God really loves us God really loves [Music] us would you stand and sing with us [Music] my I lifted up [Music] Lord thir my soul [Music] of me till I want more fill my cup f it up and make me fill my cup Lord I Lift It Up Lord come and qu this thirsting of my soul of Heaven be me till I want no more fill my cup fill it up and make me whole amen amen fill my cup Lord I lift it up Lord come and qu this breting of my soul Bread of Heaven feed me till I want no more fill my cup fill it up and make [Music] me friends gu is a beacon into the world that desperately needs it and may your passion may your passion for seeking the loving just and free world that God Imagines for all people be contagious that people will say I want what they have these people call United methodists we go forward with a renewal Zeal and determination the mission field awaits and together we are going to make a difference and it's going to be beyond all we can ask or think or imagine the mission is possible not because we're so great but because we have an amazing God that out of the abundance of the riches is going to enable us to do this good work so now friends receive the benediction by God's Amazing Grace we are the body of Christ all of us believe it or not we're chosen each other but Christ has already invited us and so we love each other all the time it's kind of like we don't have a choice right it's kind of the new commandment like really that one but you know what when people come to the altar doesn't matter what side of the political aisle you're on we're all children of God and Christ invites us all right and Holy Communion is a big equalizer doesn't matter of your you know whatever social status is or color or gender or it doesn't matter God loves us that's enough that's enough and so because of that we go into the world in peace and courage holding to the good honoring All God's Children loving and serving the lord rejoicing in the power of the spirit and the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you now and always and this session of the 157 152nd North Texas annual conference is now adjourned make the mission possible God Is With Us [Applause] amen e e